On Saturday, head coach Mike Tomlin addressed the media for the first time since Pickens was traded, and while he did not add much color, he said it was simply time.

"The Steelers were comfortable with Shedeur Sanders as a distributing point guard type, which makes it a mild surprise they didn't take him with their fourth-round pick. To borrow another basketball analogy, those inside the Steelers' building did not reach a consensus on Sanders as a slam-dunk pick," Fowler explained.

Before last month's draft, speculation had been mounting that the mercurial receiver's time in Pittsburgh was up.